Stapling mechanism



United States Patent 3,125,761 STAPLING MECHANISM George J. Adams, 2718 Lillie St, Fort Wayne, Ind. Filed Oct. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 143,339 3 Claims. (Cl. 149) The present invention relates to a stapling mechanism and more particularly to a stapler adapted to be used in securing courses of asphalt shingles to a roofing substrate.

It is common practice to provide a covering of overlapped asphalt shingles to a roofing substrate in such a manner as to prevent water leakage and resistance against Weather. Such a covering conventionally includes a series of asphalt shingles which are symmetrically overlapped so as to cover all joints and seams where water leakage might occur. Each shingle partially overlaps another shingle and further lies directly on the roofing substrate, the shingle being nailed, stapled or otherwise secured to the substrate in the region which lies thereagainst.

In the building industry, it is conventional to use stapling mechanisms for securing the asphalt shingles to the I substrate, but before any given shingle is stapled into place it is necessary to position it properly in overlapping relationship with the next, succeeding shingle so that when the shingling of the roof is completed, every shingle will have the same amount of surface exposed to the weather. Therefore, before stapling any given shingle into position, it is always necessary for the roofer to make the necessary measurement for providing the precise amount of shingle area to be exposed to the weather, then after this measurement is made, the shingle is stapled or otherwise secured in position.

In accordance with the present invention, it is an object to provide a stapling mechanism so arranged so as to position properly a shingle and to secure the shingle to a roof substrate in one, single continuous operation such that a savings in time can be realized in a roofing job.

It is another object of this invention to provide a stapling mechanism having means for setting the amount of overlap of a shingle on another shingle and to secure the first-mentioned shingle in position without repositioning the mechanism.

The above-mentioned and other features and objects of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-section of a typical roof having asphalt shingles mounted thereon showing a stapling mechanism of this invention properly positioned just prior to stapling the topmost shingle to the roofing substrate;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the stapling mechanism of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the stapling mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional illustration taken substantially along section line 44 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a front view of the mechanism of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a roofing substrate which conventionally is fabricated of wood and a series of asphalt shingles 12 properly positioned and secured to the substrate 10. The shingles 12 are overlapped in a conventional manner to provide weather surfaces, respectively.

The stapling mechanism 14 comprises a body 16 having a staple-ejecting head 18. The mechanism 14 has a flat bottom side 20 which is elongated as shown. On this flat bottom side 20 is mounted an elongated bar member 3,125,761 Patented Mar. 24, 1964 22 having opposite parallel sides 24 and 26, respectively. The sides of this elongated member 22 are turned upwardly to provide side flanges 27 which intimately embrace the sides of the body 16 and which are secured to said body by means of screws 28.

Depending from and secured to the underside 24 of the bar member 22 are two spaced-apart abutment blocks or members 36a and 30b. One of these abutment blocks Stla is located adjacent to the rear end 32 of the stapler while the other block 3% is positioned intermediate the front and rear ends of the stapler body but is spaced rearwardly from the staple-ejecting head 18.

The stapling mechanism 14 is conventional, with the particular mechanism illustrated being pneumatically operated. Staples 34 are normally stored in the head for ejection through a staple-receiving opening 36 in the head which lies in a plane parallel to a plane common to the abutment blocks 30a and 30b. Also, the head 18 contains a conventional plunger (not shown) which ejects the staple 34 in a direction normal to the plane common to the abutment blocks 30a and 30b and also normal to the underside 20 of the stapler body 16.

In operation, the rear abutment block 30a is abutted with its forward edge against the lower weather edge of a shingle 38 which has already been secured in position. A shingle 40 to be secured in position is next inserted beneath the stapler and abutted with its lower longitudinal edge against the forward edge of the remaining abutment block 3% as shown in FIG. 1. The two blocks 30a and 3% are spaced a distance apart such that the front leading edges thereof have a distance therebetween which corresponds precisely to the dimension of the weather side of the shingle separation between weather edges of adjacent rows of shingles such that when the loose shingle 40 is abutted against the abutment block 3%, it is precisely located with respect to the shingle 38 which it overlaps. When the shingle 40 is thus located, the stapling mechanism 14 is operated to eject a staple 34 through the shingle 40 and into the roofing substrate 10 to secure the shingle in place.

Thus it is apparent that a single positioning movement of the stapler 14 is instrumental in performing two, singular operations without any lost motion, the first of these operations being the proper positioning of the shingle with respect to the shingle which is being overlapped and the second operation being the securing of the new shingle into place without changing the position of the stapler. This results in saving a roofer an immense amount of time inasmuch as the operation of positioning and securing of a shingle onto a roofing substrate is one continuous operation without interruption. A great savings in time as well as cost of labor are thus realized.

While I have described above the principles of my invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation to the scope of my invention.

What is claimed:

1. A stapling device comprising a stapling mechanism having a staple-ejecting head and an elongated base member which is flat on its underside, an elongated bar member having opposite parallel sides secured to said underside to extend parallel to said base member, one of said parallel sides abutting against said underside, the other of said parallel sides having two spaced apart abutment blocks secured thereto, said abutment blocks being spaced rearwardly from the staple-ejecting head, said blocks being spaced apart a distance corresponding to the separation between weather edges of courses of shingles, said head being positioned to eject staples in a direction normal to said parallel sides.

2. A stapling device comprising an elongated base member which is flat on its underside, a staple-ejecting head mounted on said base member adjacent to said underside, said head being positioned to eject staples in a direction normal to the plane of said underside, two longitudinally spaced apart abutment members secured to and depending from said underside, said abutment members being spaced rearwardly from said head, said abutment members having edge portions facing in a direction toward said head, said edge portions having a spacing therebetween corresponding to the separation between weather edges of adjacent rows of shingles, said head being spaced from the adjacent edge portion a distance which is less than the width of a shingle whereby a staple may be driven through a shingle having one longitudinal edge abutted against said adjacent edge portion.

3. A stapling device comprising a base member having an underside, a staple-ejecting head mounted on said base member adjacent to said underside, two spaced apart abutment members secured to and depending in a given direction from said underside, said abutment members being spaced in a common direction from said head, one of said abutment members being closer than the other to said head, said abutment members having edge portions facing in a direction toward said head, said edge portions having a spacing therebetween corresponding to the separation between weather edges of adjacent rows of shingles, said head being spaced from the edge portion of the closer member a distance which is less than the width of a shingle whereby a staple may be driven through a shingle having one longitudinal edge abutted against said adjacent edge portion, said head being positioned to eject staples in a direction substantially parallel to said given direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,351,044 Heller June 13, 1944 2,764,758 Schafroth Oct. 2, 1956 2,812,515 Whitman Nov. 5, 1957 

1. A STAPLING DEVICE COMPRISING A STAPLING MECHANISM HAVING A STAPLE-EJECTING HEAD AND AN ELONGATED BASE MEMBER WHICH IS FLAT ON ITS UNDERSIDE, AN ELONGATED BAR MEMBER HAVING OPPOSITE PARALLEL SIDES SECURED TO SAID UNDERSIDE TO EXTEND PARALLEL TO SAID BASE MEMBER, ONE OF SAID PARALLEL SIDES ABUTTING AGAINST SAID UNDERSIDE, THE OTHER OF SAID PARALLEL SIDES HAVING TWO SPACED APART ABUTMENT BLOCKS SECURED THERETO, SAID ABUTMENT BLOCKS BEING SPACED REARWARDLY FROM THE STAPLE-EJECTING HEAD, SAID BLOCKS BEING SPACED APART A DISTANCE CORRESPONDING TO THE SEPARATION BETWEEN WEATHER EDGES OF COURSES OF SHINGLES, SAID HEAD BEING POSITIONED TO EJECT STAPLES IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO SAID PARALLEL SIDES. 